Businesses losing trade over 'rotting' stench from waste site in Escrick near York

Firms on a business park near York say they are losing trade because of an unpleasant smell coming from a pile of partly-processed waste at a nearby waste site.

The stench, which is from the Acumen Waste Services facility on Escrick Business Park, is making some people feel ill and driving customers away, according to local companies.

Emily Freeman, who runs Millhouse Nursery, says she has had to send staff home early because of the smell and it has meant she is losing out on business too.

She said: "As soon as you walk out it hits you so we're keeping doors and windows closed and children should be outside.

"People aren't going to want to come and look around as prospective parents because I would be put off coming to look round a nursery in a smell like this.

"It's looking to the future and signing up potential children for the future that we might then lose out on."

A sign at Millhouse Nursery warns parents about the smell on Escrick Business Park

Steve Hall runs Sumer UK and says it not only affects his business, but also his home life five miles away.

He said: "As the wind picks it up and wafts it around it drifts over to Stillingfleet. There's quite a few people in the village that are smelling the same thing.

"I like to sleep with my window open but recently it's got to be closed because the smell can keep you up."

Workshop Manager Nigel Wilford said: "One of our colleagues from work yesterday, when she got in her car late yesterday evening she could still smell the smell in her car because obviously her car had been parked in the car park all day.

"It smells like rotting, decaying dead bodies, I've never smelt anything like it."

The Environment Agency says the waste is now being transported to another site

The Environment Agency said the smell was caused by "unsuitable storage conditions" of a mixture of municipal and construction waste on the site.

It said the waste is now being removed to another site but warned that as a result the smell could get worse before it gets better.

In a statement it said: "We take reports of odours at permitted waste sites very seriously and recognise the concern and nuisance it is causing local residents and businesses.

"We’d encourage the community to continue reporting any odour issues to our incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60.”

ITV News has made several attempts to contact Acumen Waste Services Limited but has not received a response.

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